Letter: Assault weapons are not guns

Letter: Assault weapons are not guns

The Republican Party of East Baton Rouge, headed by Louis “Woody” Jenkins, maintains that this NRA lunacy about the Second Amendment is a “litmus test” issue for the Republicans and they are going to unite and take a strong stance.

Against what, the United States Constitution? The Republicans locally and nationally have paid no attention to our Constitution since George H. W. Bush.

The NRA lobby , and our “great” governor and Legislature, in order to fight the federal government and attack our Constitution, have put in our state constitution a “strict scrutiny” clause, which of course our good people voted for.

Fact: There is not one word about personal weapons for hunting or self-defense in the Second Amendment: “A well regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed.”

Fact: No one, not one state, not one government, not one person in authority, has promoted taking our guns away. This is a lie told by the Republicans and the National Rifle Association.

Fact: An assault weapon — semiutomatic or automatic — is a weapon, not a “gun.”

Fact: The Newtown School Massacre was accomplished with an assault weapon.

Fact: The Republicans and the NRA are promoting using assault weapons to defend schools and your home.

Do we need a “litmus” test or a sanity hearing?

I challenge the governor and Legislature to do common-sense soul-searching and perhaps get some redemption by passing a complete ban on assault weapons in Louisiana. It will not atone for their sins, but it would be a great legal test of the efficacy of their propaganda.